What does a pint measure?

The pint (symbol "pt", sometimes abbreviated as "p") is a unit of volume or capacity in both the imperial and United States customary measurement systems. In both of those systems it is traditionally one eighth of a gallon. The British imperial pint is about 20% larger than the American pint because the two systems are defined differently. Almost all other countries have standardized on the metric system, so the size of what may be called a pint varies depending on local custom.

Pints are commonly used for the sale of milk in the United Kingdom. The label gives both the metric and the imperial volume.

The imperial pint (≈ 568 ml) is used in the United Kingdom and Ireland and to a limited extent in Commonwealth nations. In the United States, two kinds of pint are used: a liquid pint (≈ 473 ml) and a less-common dry pint (≈ 551 ml).

The imperial fluid ounce is about 4% smaller than the US fluid ounce. All of the other former British colonies, such as Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, converted to the metric system in the 1960s and 1970s; so, while the term pint may still be in common use in these countries, it may no longer refer to the British imperial pint once used throughout the British Empire.